The Ombili (meaning "peace") Group is a charitable
organization which has developed from the Arbeitskreis Südliches
Afrika (Work Group on Southern Africa) located in the Ruhr district
and committed to the anti-apartheid movement in the 70s and 80s.
Since 1991, the group has formed a partnership with the village
of Omundaungilo in the extreme north of Namibia which had heavily
suffered from the fight of independence against South Africa. This
interrelation serves, on the one hand, to help people there to build
up a society fit for the future and, on the other, to make people
here more familiar with Namibia. To this end, we are also concerned
with political and social questions affecting the whole of Namibia.
Numerous projects have already been carried out in the course of
the partnership. In 1991, we were able to hand over a cross-country
car financed by donations, which is very important to have in the
trackless north for the work of the community and, not least, to
transport the sick. In 1993, a work camp was set up. 30 young people,
about half of them from Germany, re-erected a school building destroyed
during the war. Today it houses a kindergarten, a community café
and a bakery. Funds from "Brot für die Welt" (development
aid actions sustained by all Protestant and free churches in Germany)
provided for installation of a new Diesel-driven pump to improve
water supply. To promote the use of solar energy in Namibia, a bakery
powered by same was built in 1995.
For 2002, another work camp is planned in the community of Omundaungilo
with approxi-mately ten participants from Germany.
Over the years, objectives and assignments within the partnership
have changed. Many measures have immensely developed the infrastructure
in Omundaungilo. Now, other problems have to be tackled, especially
unemployment. Here, help comes in the form of the "Omundaungilo
Job Program" – to assist with training and first jobs
for effective development in the rural north of Namibia. The aim
of this project is to support people to build up a secure existence
in the region and thus to counteract rural exodus by the young.
In addition, funds from long-term donations are to be established
to aid small-scale training courses and the setting-up of businesses.
